Work starts to revamp Ilam Park pathways

Ilam Park features ornate Italian gardens, parkland, a tea room and bookshop

Work has started to resurface two paths at Ilam Park in Derbyshire as part of an ongoing project to improve accessibility.

Visitors have been told the work on the purple and orange routes at the park, near Ashbourne, will take about four weeks.

The National Trust, which owns the attraction, said there would be some path closures and changes to routes around the grounds, which will be "clearly marked".

Park bosses said they wanted to make it one of the most accessible visitor sites in the Peak District.

AccessibleUK said the improvements would help people with reduced mobility

Ilam Park features ornate Italian gardens, parkland, a tea room and bookshop, and welcomes about 120,000 visitors a year.

Work will take place on the path from St Bertram's Bridge to the steps which lead up to Hinkley Woods - The Purple Route, and a section of path near Target Meadow from Battle Stone and up to the Manifold River bridge crossing - The Orange Route.

The trust said the Visitor Welcome Hut will be temporarily relocated to the front of Ilam Hall during the work.

This is the third phase of the project to improve accessibility around the grounds.

The first was completed in spring 2024 and the second created a 1km loop through parkland surrounding Ilam Hall - an 1820s country house, which is now operating as a youth hostel - last November.

Work 'vitally important'

Gillian Scotford, director at AccessibleUK, said: "Accessibility is not just about wheelchair access.

"The improvements to pathways, in particular, will also help many people with reduced mobility and those using pushchairs."

Craig Best, general manager for the National Trust in the Peak District, added: "We definitely have the aspiration to make Ilam Park one of the most, if not the most, accessible places within the Peak District.

"It's vitally important that everyone has access to nature, to history, to beauty. Work we've done at Ilam is really important."